MLN Trains blog about toy trains and real trains

  Lionel Trains 671 Pennsylvania S2 Turbine 

 

PostWar Lionel Trains 671

To the left is a photo of a 1946 Lionel Trains Toy Train model 671 and coal tender. It was a toy train that was notably reliable and heavy, entirely made of all metal construction.

In real life, the S2 Turbine prototype emerged out of a project by the Pennsylvania Railroad to create the ultimate Steam Locomotive. The real life S2 Turbine instead became a monument to the end of the steam era locomotives.  The S2 was a short lived project for P.R.R.

The real life S2 prototype ( photo below) was the real life locomotive that Lionel Trains based their models of this line. Both the real life and the toy train models were produced in the declining years of the steam era.  

The real life version was powered by a 6900 horsepower Westinghouse direct steam turbine engine. The Pennsylvania S-2 from the 1940’s was an attempt at holding on to the age of the steam engine. Many of the railroads had a large interest in coal as many of the railroad companies also ran coal companies.   However the age of diesel power was on the rise. 

The constant torque of the rotary turbine eliminated the power loss found in the reciprocating parts of a conventional steam locomotive. Even though the massive 6-8-6 weighed almost one million pounds, the S-2 exceeded the performance of a 6000 horsepower diesel above forty miles per hour. 

Due to high coal consumption, the S-2 prototype failed to have any commercial success and a second locomotive was never manufactured. The age of steam was quickly reaching its end. By the mid 1940's most railroads were making more use of Diesel engines and allowed their steam engines to faze out.

Despite the fate of the real life S2 Turbine venture, Lionel Trains created several very popular model recreations of this Turbine locomotive.   For Lionel Trains, their toy train turbine models were a huge success. 

The first of the PostWar Lionel Trains "turbines" were  introduced in 1946 and ran until 1955.  Lionel Trains made many thousands of these turbine models from their New Jersey factory, which include model numbers 681, 682 and the 027 gauge 2020.  These model train turbines remain very popular with Lionel Trains collectors and operators. 

 More recently in the Lionel Trains product lines, The Turbine has been resurrected in the higher end of Lionel Products. These are breathtaking in detail and have far more " Bells and Whistles " and even more detailed features than their postwar predecessors. 

 Thru Lionel's popular recreations of the S2 Turbine in their model train lines, both past and present, the age of the steam locomotive will likely continue to endure in the public imagination for many generations to come.

Happy Railroading!





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